Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company
Manufactures high-reliability payload release systems
Principal Engineering Manager
About the job
- A bachelor's degree in Mechanical, Electrical, Chemical, or Aerospace Engineering, Physics, or another relevant technical discipline is required.
- At least 10 years of progressive engineering experience supporting complex aerospace, defense, or similarly demanding engineered products is required.
- Demonstrated success leading, coaching, developing, and holding highly experienced engineers or senior technical professionals accountable, including succession and capability development, is required.
- Strong technical credibility across the product-development lifecycle, from design and analysis through manufacturing, qualification, and production, is required.
- Experience leading multidisciplinary resolution of complex technical problems using structured, data-driven problem-solving methods is required.
- A track record of improving engineering standards, design practices, technical reviews, or development processes is required.
- Sound technical judgment, including the ability to challenge assumptions, evaluate risk, and guide decisions when information is incomplete, is required.
- Strong influence and communication skills, with the ability to align technical experts, business leaders, customers, and cross-functional teams, are required.
- Must have or be able to obtain a United States Department of Defense security clearance.
- Must be eligible to support United States Department of Defense and International Traffic in Arms Regulations-controlled programs.
- Lead, coach, and develop the Principal Engineering team, with clear expectations, development plans, mentoring responsibilities, succession strategies, and accountability for results.
- Build the technical-leadership pipeline by enabling Principal Engineers to mentor and develop engineers across the organization and by identifying critical capability gaps.
- Build Engineering problem-solving capability through effective use of EBAD's structured problem-solving methodology, ensuring significant technical problems are clearly defined, analyzed with data, resolved to root cause, and sustained.
- Strengthen product and process safety expertise and ensure appropriate technical rigor is integrated into design reviews, qualification activities, and critical program decisions.
- Identify and close systemic capability gaps across the product-development lifecycle by improving engineering standards, methods, reviews, tools, and technical practices, with measurable reduction in development and qualification test failures, late discovery of technical issues, and recurring failure modes.
- Provide senior technical judgment on complex engineering challenges by challenging assumptions, evaluating risk, and ensuring the right multidisciplinary expertise is engaged.
- Use the EBAD Operating System to reinforce effective operating cadence, visual management, standard work, knowledge sharing, and continuous improvement within Principal Engineering.
- Partner across Development Engineering, Systems Engineering, Chief Engineering, Program or Integrated Product Team leadership, Operations, Quality, Technology, Business Development, and customers to align technical decisions with manufacturability, testability, reliability, safety, cost, schedule, and customer outcomes.
- Support critical technical reviews, failure investigations, program decisions, proposals, and customer engagements.
- Translate complex technical considerations into clear risks, recommendations, and business implications for senior leaders, customers, and cross-functional partners.
- An advanced degree is preferred.
- Experience with energetics, ordnance, aerospace electronics, satellite systems, launch vehicles, or other high-consequence aerospace and defense products.
- Experience developing a Principal Engineering, Chief Engineering, Technical Fellow, or similar technical-leadership organization.
- Product and process safety, reliability, qualification testing, or complex failure-investigation experience.
- Experience working within a mature continuous-improvement or business operating system.
- Direct experience supporting aerospace and defense customers, proposals, or critical technical reviews.
About the company
Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense provides high-reliability payload release and spacecraft deployment solutions for space and defense missions. Its main products, Multi Point Payload Release Mechanisms (PRM) and Hold Down Release Mechanisms (HDRM), are precision mechanical systems that hold payloads securely during launch and release them on command to enable safe satellite deployment. The company differentiates itself with decades of aerospace heritage dating back to 1836, plus tailored engineering, rigorous testing, and strong collaboration with government and private sector clients to ensure safety and performance. The goal is to deliver dependable, proven hardware that helps customers achieve mission success while supporting STEM education and community initiatives.
Company Size
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Company Stage
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Total Funding
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Headquarters
Simsbury, Connecticut
Founded
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Simplify's Take
What believers are saying
- January 2026 Falcon 9 Twilight mission proved PRM9103 flight success.
- March 2026 Navy MK8 order and January 2026 MK68 sourcing show sticky demand.
- EBAD's 2026 hiring and Top Workplace status signal continued production expansion.
What critics are saying
- Beyond Gravity's 2024 suit exposed pricing leverage fights tied to Amazon Kuiper deliveries.
- EBAD's customer concentration in NASA, SpaceX, and Navy programs ties revenue to few winners.
- A failed Artemis III, PRM9106, or Kuiper qualification cycle would crush credibility.
What makes Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Company unique
- EBAD's NEA heritage still wins sole-source DoD awards in 2026.
- Artemis II validated EBAD separation hardware across NASA's 2026 lunar mission.
- PRM family spans 150-kilogram to 2,000-kilogram spacecraft, unlike narrow-point competitors.
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Benefits
Professional Development Budget
Health Insurance
Paid Vacation
Company News
Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense Inducted into the American Manufacturing Hall of Fame Simsbury-based aerospace manufacturer honored for 190 years of innovation and its critical role in NASA's historic Artemis II mission. SIMSBURY, Conn. - September 1, 2026 - Ensign-Bickford Aerospace & Defense (EBAD) was inducted into the American Manufacturing Hall of Fame yesterday at the Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Forum, held at the Connecticut Convention Center in Hartford. Lisa Brown, EBAD's Market Segment Director for Launch Vehicles, accepted the honor on behalf of the company. U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal presented the induction, with Governor Ned Lamont and Connecticut Chief Manufacturing Officer Kirti Patel also in attendance. The induction recognizes EBAD's 190-year manufacturing legacy in Simsbury, dating back to 1836 and William Bickford's invention of the safety fuse, as well as the company's role as a critical supplier on NASA's Artemis II mission. Hardware designed and built by EBAD performed successfully throughout Artemis II, the first crewed mission beyond low Earth orbit in more than 50 years. During the nearly 10-day mission, which launched April 1, 2026, four astronauts traveled approximately 1.4 million miles, reaching a record distance of 252,756 miles from Earth before safely returning home. EBAD engineered the critical separation hardware that helped separate Orion's Crew Module from its Service Module, a crucial step ahead of the astronauts' return to Earth. "From the same Simsbury factory where this all began, we are honored to be recognized alongside Connecticut's most iconic manufacturing innovators," said Lisa Brown, Market Segment Director for Launch Vehicles, EBAD. "This induction belongs to every EBAD employee, past and present, whose precision and dedication have helped carry Connecticut manufacturing from mining safety caps to the Moon and beyond." The Connecticut Manufacturing Innovation Forum, presented by Connecticut Office of Manufacturing, brought together manufacturers, educators and state leaders to explore the technologies, strategies and workforce solutions shaping the industry's future. EBAD served as an event sponsor alongside RBC Bearings, Trumpf, CLA and Raymond James, with Fox61 as media partner. Founded in 2014, the American Manufacturing Hall of Fame honors Connecticut's manufacturing and innovation legacy, celebrating a state that has served as a birthplace of innovation for more than 350 years - from the helicopter and the nuclear submarine to the first spacesuit worn on the Moon. americanmanufacturinghof.com